Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Immediately afterwards, Finn's voice rang out again:

"This time, I really owe it to Valeta. If it weren't for her cooperation, I wouldn't have been able to save the city time and time again and become the hero in everyone's hearts. Give her more money, she definitely needs more money!"

Loki chuckled coldly: "From now on, if I don't like anyone, I'll have Valetta send someone to their door."

Finn asked, "What should we do next?"

Loki: "Is that even a question? Of course, we'll have the two overlords pretend to be defeated, and then you'll step in to stabilize the situation."

Finn grinned mischievously, raising his fist: "You certainly have a twisted sense of humor. But this is to my advantage. To revive the glory of the dwarves, I must become even more famous! So, nice to cooperate, Loki!!"

"It's a pleasure doing business with you!" Loki extended his fist in a fist bump.

After the two left, Raul was covered in cold sweat and sat down on the ground with a thud.

My mind went blank, and my whole body was trembling.

On the other side of the alley.

Palumfin raised his head: "Lord Ciel, what is the purpose of this performance?"

The red-haired 'Loki' smirked: 'Of course, it's to cause Loki some trouble.'

Chapter 178 The Overlord's Cruelty (Part 1)

Southwest of the city, sixth district, trading area.

Finn carried the blood-soaked Grace quickly, one of his hands hanging limply at his sides, blood also flowing from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

A gust of wind blew overhead as Asphie struggled to fly with Riveria on her back.

She stared nervously behind her, but when she didn't see the terrifying figure, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great, she didn't chase after us!"

Finn's expression was grave. He recalled the brief exchange just now, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

"I was careless. I didn't expect Jingji to be so strong!!"

Although he had made certain arrangements based on some intelligence, an unexpected incident still occurred.

His original plan was to eliminate most of the suicide bombers tonight. This strategic objective had been achieved. The remaining task was to tie down the enemy's trump cards and limit their ability to significantly reduce urban combat strength.

This was merely a simple test. He had anticipated defeat and had prepared crucial rescue and backup plans in advance. His aim was to leverage the power of [Gluttony] and [Silence] to pressure Freya's Familia and his allies.

Only by scattering the pieces of both sides and rationally allocating combat power according to the enemy's abilities and weaknesses can one have a certain chance of winning the battle.

Yes, Finn has already designated [Silence] and [Gluttony] as high-level monsters that are difficult to defeat. Not only will it require assembling an army to besiege them, but precise deployment of the team is also crucial.

But to everyone's surprise, Grace and Riveria were ravaged in just one encounter.

Recalling the scene, Finn still felt a chill run down his spine.

The extremely cold magic that they were so proud of couldn't even cause a ripple in front of the gray armor.

Grace's all-out attack was easily caught by the witch with her bare hand.

Immediately following, with just one punch, [Chongjie], whose strength was unparalleled in the city, was embedded in the ground and could not rise again.

Finn stared at the battle axe that Grace was clutching tightly in her hand, crushed by her slender fingers, and a bead of cold sweat slowly slid down his cheek.

If I hadn't arrived in time, relying on the [Fierce Demon Spear] to forcibly raise my stats to level 6, and then relying on the [Tirnano] javelin that can unify all my stats but can only be fired once a day, I could have barely managed to deliver a blow that would have threatened level 7.

Only then, with the airdropped fire support from Asphie, were they able to snatch Grace and Riveria from Alfia's hands.

Recalling how Alfia had caught his javelin with such ease, as if she had done it countless times, and the nonchalant expression on her face, Finn felt a sense of powerlessness rising from the bottom of his heart.

Can we really win?

She didn't look like she was "seriously ill" at all!

As he ran, Finn recalled the key item that had truly hindered Alfia. He looked up at Asphie: "[Omnipotent], how much of the 'Flame Explosive' you have left?"

Asphie panicked for a moment, steadied her flight posture, and said nervously, "That was a prototype that was temporarily developed based on the materials and principles of fireworks..."

"No reserves?" Finn asked, slightly disappointed.

The power of that explosion was approaching that of a superior-grade magic sword, and crucially, it wouldn't be countered by Alfia's magic immunity. If he had more reserves, he was confident he could delay Alfia's advance.

"I'm sorry." Asphie lowered her head.

The two arrived silently at the medical outpost set up by the [Deankaite Familia], where countless wounded and adventurers lay on the ground, covered in blood.

Various therapists were running around, sweating profusely.

Finn grabbed one of them and shouted, "Prioritize healing Riveria! She has wide-area healing magic! We can use it immediately!"

"I come!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a girl with long blue hair, downturned eyes, soft facial features, and an enviable figure ran over.

"You are a member of the Astrea Familia."

"I am Maru. Please hand over Lady Riveria to me!"

Maru is a healer for the Astrea Familia. Compared to ordinary doctors, she has a higher rank and is more suitable for facing the battlefield.

"How's the battle going lately?" Finn asked, taking a moment to rest beside Riveria.

"After the Nine Pillars of Gods were returned, the Dark Faction weakened their attacks on the city and instead occupied the four city walls," Maru explained as she quickly tended to Riveria's wounds.

"They probably want to surround us, implement a scorched-earth policy, and cut off our supplies. Now the fighting inside the city is gradually subsiding, and I've also stepped down from the front lines to fill the gaps in medical services."

After examining Rivera's injuries and performing a simple bone setting, she activated a verdant magic circle, and the light of life rapidly repaired Rivera's wounds.

Riveria coughed up a mouthful of blood and slowly regained consciousness.

“I shouldn’t have wasted my precious mental energy, but Lady Riveria is too crucial.” Before Riveria could catch her breath, Maru finished the treatment and pulled her up to sit up.

"Please help us treat our seriously wounded as soon as possible. The fate of Freya's clan is also unknown!"

"!" Riveria was only stunned for a moment before she was pulled to another tent.

Finn could only continue pulling Grace, whose condition was equally serious, and they entered the tent in just a few steps.

Inside the room, the elixir in Ryu's hand glowed with an emerald green light as she struggled to keep Ota alive. Seeing Maru enter, she said in a tearful voice:

"Great, reinforcements have arrived! My magic alone can only keep them alive. If they don't get treatment soon, he'll die!"

"This..." Finn's eyelids twitched wildly when he saw this.

Ota had a gruesome, penetrating wound in his waist that nearly severed him in two. The other two, Palum and Catman Allen, had their limbs wrapped in bandages and stone slabs, clearly having suffered brutal torture, and their fates were unknown.

The dark elf Hedin had a grotesque hole in his right chest, the cause of which was unknown.

Only Hedin was the least injured; he barely managed to lift his broken glasses and stare up at Finn.

Before Finn could ask what was going on...

Maru said anxiously, "Most of the healers have exhausted their mental energy, and that was my last spell. Their injuries are temporarily being sustained by elixirs. Please, Lady Riveria, lend a helping hand."

"Tch..." Hedin clicked his tongue, seemingly feeling humiliated by being treated by a rival clan. But he seemed to have found a reason: after all, Rivera was royalty, so from that perspective, there was no reason for her to refuse.

"Wait, I'll go move the other wounded over here!" Maru said, beckoning Liu to go out. Soon, one by one, the wounded who were not seriously injured and were able to move on their own entered the tent.

Without delay, Riveria raised her wand, and a giant emerald magic circle lit up, bathing all the wounded within five meters in a warm, healing light.

The magic lasted for a full fifteen minutes, during which countless wounded people took turns entering and exiting the magic circle. After recovering, they immediately went out to carry their immobile companions into the circle for treatment.

Once Hedin was able to sit up on his own, Finn asked urgently, "What exactly happened to you?"

Chapter 179 The Overlord's Cruelty (Part 2)

Hedin was stunned for a moment, his pupils contracting slightly. It took him a long while to recover. He took a deep breath and began to speak slowly:

"We attacked the Dark Faction's stronghold according to the previously established plan. Everything went smoothly, and we followed your instructions, going all out and deploying all our forces."

"But, just as we were preparing to call it a day, that man appeared..."

Hedin's breath caught in his throat for a moment, and he couldn't help but gag.

“Chardor…” Finn said the man’s name, “How is his strength?”

Hedin took a deep breath to calm himself: "I can't describe it... it's a height that you can't appreciate without experiencing it firsthand."

"We didn't even get to the point where we were forced to reveal his full strength before we were easily dismembered."

As if remembering something, he mimicked Chardo's tone, saying, "I only stroked it, didn't I? I haven't even started consuming it yet. Just how much of a disappointment are you going to give me, Orario!"

Finn's breath hitched: "Stroke... stroke?"

He repeated Hedin's words: "Is he really that strong? Even your entire team suffered a crushing defeat?"

At that moment, Allen, now lucid, sat up. He stared at Finn and interjected:

"He just swung that black greatsword horizontally once."

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead: "It was just a simple swing, but I didn't see it."

Hegny looked up at the sky: "The Strike of the Conqueror, tolls the death knell, crosses the distance of the Death Gun, and shatters the pride of heroes."

Alfred cursed, "Hegny, don't give me that 'I'm having an episode' right now."

Green: "Speaking of which, our teamwork was completely useless."

Du Hualin: "I don't even have the right to run into him."

Berlin: "He was blown away by the sword wind."

Hedin sighed, "Although Ota told us to run away immediately, we didn't listen at all. We naturally used all our skills to fight that monster, but this is what we got in return."

Allen gritted his teeth: "That stinking boar Ota was taken down in just two rounds! Ugh~, who wanted that guy to save us?"

Allen recalled the scene.

He coordinated with Hedin's magic and Ota's slash, launching a surprise attack from behind, unseen. But the monster easily deflected Ota's slash with a single strike, dodged the sneak attack, and then swung his sword horizontally, nearly severing him in half at the waist.

If Ota hadn't reacted quickly and blocked the attack with his sword again, he would already be a corpse.

The price was that Ota's weapon shattered, the black blade struck his abdomen, and he was sent flying into the buildings on either side of him as he charged forward.